Oil-well heater.



W. E. GARDNER n Gf. A. ISRABLSON.

OIL WELL HEATER.

APPLIGATION FILED APE. 2. 1909.

945,321 Patented 5311.4, HMG.

' @Nin resistir reins;

cria-WELL HEATER. A

Specification of Letters ltetent.

lratenteti Jain. d, trilt?,

Application :filed April t2, 1905. Serial No. 437,537.

To all wiz/om 'it may concern.:

Be 1t known that We, WILLIAM E. GARD- is'sR and Gos'rsvn it. lsnAnLsoN,citizens of vthe United States` residing at Pittsburg, in

the county of Allegheny and State of Penn-v sylvania, have inventedcertain net;r and useful Improvements in Oil-Nell Heaters; and we dodeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the saxne,referenee being,A had to theacco1npanying drawings, and to the igures of reference marked.thereonfivhich forni, a part of this specification. A

Our invention'has for its object the provi-n sion .01 a simple andpractical electrically heated device, adapted to he placed and operatedin oil wells for the purpose of heating the lower section of the Welland thereby' dissolve the paraiiin and other obstructive xnatter whichfills up and becomes hardened in the fissures and interstices in the oilbearing strata of rock and sand, the removal of which matter occasionsthe Well to again become productive of eil` 'ln the accompanyingdrawings, forming e' part of this s eeiication, We lhave illustrated ourinven ion in several Ways asY Well as its application te a Well, inwhich drawings,

Figure I, is a longitudinal sectional view through the heater. Fig;yll", is a transverse sectional View through the same. Fig. lll, is alongitudinal sectional view of a 'portieri of a Well 'showin 'theapplication of our improved heater t creto, and Fig. YI, is a transversesectional View through the heater showing the electrodes of segmentaltorni in cross-section, in all of said views similar detail parte of thestructure are designated hy numerals of like character. Y

The structure disclosed comprises a tubular member 1 having a ca 2secured to its upper end. which is provided ternally threaded hess ilinto W ieliis fitted an insulator 4, the lcwer end et 'said member beingclosed hy acap. having a metal plug 6 secured therein, said tubularmember and attending heads being formed of metal and lined with aninsulating medium 7 of any suitable material. Arranged within saidclosed tubular .member is 'oit' spaced electrodes 8 and il, cppesitelydisposed,

against or in close proximity to the i-nsulat`-r ing; lining thereot,one ot which entends {vith an ett-f it' can he removed with the oil.

from a point near the hot-tom upto and through the aforesaid insulator4, in the upper head and connects to'a terminal 10, the other electrodeextending downwardlj7 from a point near the top and connects with theaforesaidvplug 6 in the lower head, care being taken that the spacebetween the points` Where the electrodes enter and terminate he greaterthan the distance transversely.

The interior of the tubular member is filled with a suitable pulver-izedor granular high resistaiico medium ll which extends4 from end to endengaging the electrodes throughout their length.

ln practice, the heater is attached to the' v pump lino le' h vthrcadahly connecting the saine to the atoresaid boss 3 of the vupperhead, the upper end oi said line heilig con. nested to one of thebrushes of a generator 'l 13' by a wire 14 and the terminal l0 is connectcd to a wire 1G leading to the other bf'uslif: f

of the Igenerutor.

When connections are'` made it is lowered into the Well and the cur-gf`rent is passed het-Ween the electrodes, through the medium of thepulverized or granular material, and said material is of high resistivepropertiesand otlers the shortest'pz'ithv to the current, heat isgenerated thefcurq 1".

rent in its passage therethrough from oneelectrode to the other,whichheat is transmitted through the device to the surroundi inglwallsof the Well, thereby dissolving the pui-alim and other matter andcausing-1t to..

pass out of the iissures into the Well where can be raised and loweredslowly over the en- The' heater j tire surface of the oil bearingstrata, in

which instance the Wire sand ,device is sealed and impervious tomoisture.

Having thus shown and described our invention, what ive claim and tosecure oy .Letters Patent, is:

L'An electric heater for oil Wells, comprising a sealed metallic chamberhavintfvits Vinterior covered with an insulating medium,

line (.i'iotfAv shown) may be' attached to the heater inl i o i.

theiefrom, and :i pulverized high resistance medium filling the interiorof said clmnlbei' ,1 `and adapted to fom a transverse passagebetween-the electrodes, substantially as described.

ln testimony wlieieof, We aiix our signw tures, in presence of twowitnesses.

VVILLAM E. GARDNER. GUSTAVE A. SRAIC-LSON.

Witnesses A. R. ROBISON, R. S. HARRISON.

